Dallas City News

Thursday marked the beginning of the first official preseason week of the year across the NFL, and we had the Hall of Fame Game happened last week, which means that soon enough we are going to have a ton of data and information on the new kickoff rule and format.

The HOF game provided an opportunity to see the new kickoff in some level of action. While there were no returns creating a significant boost for the Houston Texans or Chicago Bears, the more we see it the more we are going to understand it and be able to identify potential advantages and pitfalls.

The Dallas Cowboys do not begin their preseason until Sunday when they will visit the Los Angeles Rams, but on Thursday did they squared off against the Rams in a joint practice. The new kickoff was a part of it and the mothership’s Nick Harris was able to document the first coverage unit on the field for the Cowboys.

This is still a very light group and similar-ish to what kickoff teams have looked like in the past. The biggest players involved are Hunter Luepke, Princeton Fant, Markquese Bell and even Tyrus Wheat. The merits of having certain bodies and size profiles remain to be totally seen, but this play is going to be more similar to a standard run play if all simulations (so to speak) are accurate.

At one point during the scrimmage wide receiver David Durden had a nice return for the Cowboys. KaVontae Turpin is the primary returner for Dallas but it remains to be seen if his skillset will be the ideal one from the position.

Given that the Cowboys do not play until Sunday, and that there are preseason games every day between now and then we will have even more time to gather data and information. But when the Cowboys finally do play. it is unlikely that John Fassel will not show many of his cards with the regular season so close.

But this is an important bread crumb. Eat up what you can.